Dixie Chicks bring their twangy best to town
BY Sandra Sperounes, Edmonton Journal
The last time the Dixie Chicks played Edmonton, Don Iveson wasn’t even on city
council, a new arena was still a pipe dream, and vocalist Natalie Maines expressed her sympathy for Oilers fans.
The date was Nov. 4, 2006— and she was referring to a botched reffing call
from the night before, which saw the Dallas Stars beat the Oilers. Again.
Seven years later — almost to the day — Iveson is now the mayor of Edmonton,
a new arena is (finally) getting off the ground, and no amount of sympathy could ease the pain of Oilers fans.
So Maines, violinist Martie Maguire and her sister, multi-instrumentalist Emily Robison,
resorted to what they do best on Friday night — kick-ass twangy tunes about love, loss and havin’ fun in the face
of disaster. To do so, they didn’t require any fancy props — just Maines’ powerful voice, buoyed by the
harmonies of her sister Chicks; and a simple stage with a few backup musicians, a riser, some lights, and two screens.
The girls themselves didn’t move around much. Dressed in shorts, leather pants,
boots, and striped shirts, they looked more like an ’80s new-wave band than one of the biggest country acts in the world.
Which reminds me ... with her slicked, short blond hair, doesn’t Maines look like the older sister of Miley Cyrus? I
think I’d like to see the two of them work on a song together. Maines, however, didn’t have to resort to twerking
to highlight her sassiness — just a well-timed head flick during Ready To Run was enough to do the trick.
For Friday’s show, the trio didn’t have a new album to promote —
not as the Chicks, anyway. Taking the Long Way, their last (and appropriately titled) album, was released in 2006 —
and since then, the Chicks have been working on side projects.
No matter — the almost sold-out crowd was eager to hear the Texas natives focus
on tunes from their first four albums and in chronological order, too. Each number — I Can Love You Better, Wide Open
Spaces, Am I The Only One (Who’s Ever Felt This Way), You Were Mine, Ready To Run — seemed to get a bigger cheer
than the last, almost topped by a marriage proposal following the trio’s feisty rendition of Goodbye Earl. (The happy
couple, on the floor of the arena, wasn’t easy to see, nor was the proposal audible, though a sweet message to Joleen
Swenson was printed on the TV screens: "I love the happiness, joy and colour you have brought into my life.")
"Is it a yes?" asked Maines. "She said yes!"
Aww. Cue Cowboy Take Me Away, a mid-tempo dreamy number. Swoon. Thanks, Calgary,
for making such a magical night happen. If it wasn’t for the June floods in southern Alberta, Friday’s concert
would never have happened.
The Dixie Chicks were only scheduled to play a few dates this the summer, but once
the trio had to reschedule their Saddledome show, they decided to tack on Edmonton and other cities. Yay!
Three cheers to the Chicks for bringing Charlie Mars to open for them.
The Mississippi-bred singer-songwriter drawls like Matthew McConaughey and has the
same dry wit — not to mention love of the herb. At least two of Mars’ songs were inspired by Mary Jane: a new
tune written in Jamaica, and Listen to the Darkside.
His songs weren’t necessarily country or rock or folk or roots — nor
were they quite as memorable as his banter. The few that stood out involved his attempts at audience singalongs, including
Back of the Room, though he ran the risk of overusing that shtick.
Mars is definitely a charismatic performer — like the sweet-talker in high
school who could tell great stories and play acoustic guitar — but as a songwriter, he’s just alright, alright,
alright.
Edmonton Dixie Chicks fans wowed at Rexall Place
BY Mike Ross , Edmonton Sun
It’s been an interesting few months for country music in Edmonton — as if it’s been getting progressively
smarter, less redneck and more liberal. Weird.
From the pure redneck with acts like Zac Brown or Jason Aldean, to thinking man’s redneck with Brad Paisley, the
trend reached its zenith Friday night as the Dixie Chicks played a sensational show at Rexall Place. These gals sound as country
as the day is long. They play fiddles and dobros and banjos and mandolins, no frills, no smoke and mirrors, just excellent
musicianship. They play country two-steps and cry-in-your-beer ballads and breakneck hillbilly hoedowns. They sing like sweethearts
of God’s own heavenly rodeo, but they are not rednecks. That path is closed to them now.
The Dixie Chicks are of course famous for telling a crowd in London, England on the eve of the War on Iraq that they were
"ashamed" to be from the same state as President George W. Bush, that is, Texas. This did not go over very well with the conservative
country music establishment. This is old news, to be sure, water under the burned bridge, but that one offhand remark has
defined this trio of real country-bluegrass women ever since. Funny how politics lines up so neatly with musical cultures.
Once you’ve gone over to the Dark Side, it’s hard to come back.
On stage together again after a hiatus that saw solo careers from powerhouse lead singer Natalie Maines, as well as the
sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire in a group called the Court Yard Hounds, the Dixie Chicks proved you can be the real
deal in country without the aura of stupidity that seems to surround so much of it. Likewise free of the trappings of pop
divas, their songs are often simple and honest expressions of love and heartbreak, heavy on the latter, free of the maudlin
or over-sentimental.
The almost sold-out crowd was treated to a chronological set, which was an odd way to pace a show — aren’t
you supposed to save your biggest hits for the end? — starting with the trio’s first breakout hit in 1997, I Can
Love You Better. It’s a song about wanting to steal someone else’s man, and remember that this came out at least
a decade before Taylor Swift would explore the same topic to great success.
Themes of loneliness would surface in songs like Am I The Only One (Who Ever Felt This Way), and the heartbreaking heartbreak
ballad You Were Mine. Ready to Run, with its catchy hook and snappy groove, deals with a young woman yearning to get out of
an unspecified one-horse town. Don’t Waste Your Heart, another soulful ballad, seems to reveal some self-esteem issues.
Could be a common thread here.
It doesn’t sound very upbeat, but with exuberant performances and gorgeous singing — with Maines an incredible,
sometimes almost overpowering vocal presence — the effect of even the most depressing songs was stirring. The Chicks
deftly wove their way through their remarkable career, working their way from the early days to the present, more or less.
Bluegrassified covers like Long Time Gone (Cosby Stills and Nash), Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide and Bob Dylan’s Mississippi
(in the encore) went over well. Country artists are forever mucking around with ‘70s and ‘80s rock covers and
the Dixie Chicks are not immune.
One particular crowd favourite was Goodbye Earl, about an abusive husband murdered by his wife. It’s one of the happiest,
most upbeat murder songs ever written, plus the wife gets away with it. The majority of this audience was female, it should
be noted.
Comically, that song was followed by an audience member marriage proposal that had been set up beforehand — complete
with the proposal displayed on the video screens and a spotlight aimed at the future couple. Fortunately, Jolene said yes
(didn’t catch the guy’s name), so it was all good. Cue the Chicks’ 1999 chart-topper and perfect wedding
song, Cowboy Take Me Away.
OK, maybe they’re a little bit redneck.
Opening act Charlie Mars — perhaps best known as the husband of actress Mary Louise-Parker — may have made
a goof of talking like Forrest Gump, but the veteran Mississippi singer-songwriter was a quirky and funny character whose
smart and soulful songs were refreshingly free of artifice or radio friendly clichés. In short, he’s not the usual Nashville-groomed
up-and-comer one sees opening big country shows.
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